The Tip of the Tip of the Iceberg: Trump’s Rhetoric on Migration
There are three medium to long term options for the victims of large scale displacement: integration, resettlement or voluntary repatriation. Let’s be clear here, according to UNHCR figures, only 1% of those that are displaced will be resettled in a […]
Opinion: Yup, that’s racist.
I was in a class this week when my professor used the word “blacks”. It is an informal class at a liberal college and she is a left-leaning, informed teacher who is usually pretty cool. So I didn’t think it […]
The Confederalists: a Kurdish movement bolsters women and bashes the West
“While the world is discussing what to do with ISIS, Kurdish women are doing it.” Dilar Dirik cried in a September 2014 speech about theories of statelessness at a European conference. Dirik, a PhD candidate at Cambridge, used the speech to give […]
ISIS and the Neoliberal State
The Universal State and the Universal Threat The rise of the Islamic State has united the various actors in the Middle East and North Africa that are otherwise fighting tooth and nail against each other throughout the scorched battlefields of […]
Politicized Approaches to the ISIS International Security Crisis
The world is currently facing a new critical security issue represented in the rise of the terrorist organization “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” (ISIS). In this article I investigate the politicized approach of defining “terrorism,” and I argue that […]
My lovely and uneventful week in Jerusalem
As a journalist and student of international affairs, I find it’s hard to write about Israel-Palestine without writing about the plight of the Palestinians. As a tourist visiting my wife’s family in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, I did not experience […]
Foundational Problems and Solutions for Middle Eastern Post-Colonial States
Looking at any crisis in a specific part of the world, one has to examine the roots of the conflict and the historic facts that led to the current crisis. We have various examples in this world where the crises […]
Technology Towards a “Conflict-Free” Tomorrow
Diamonds in Sierra Leone. Coltan in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bananas in Colombia. What do these have in common? Some of the world’s largest conflicts are strengthened by the monopoly over these natural resources (yes, even bananas). Unfortunately, […]
Intra-Jewish Discrimination in Israel: A Mizrahi Feminism Cut and Paste Primer
Jews are the most privileged group of citizens in Israel. Jews of European descent, called Ashkenazim, form the top of a class hierarchy while Mizrahim—Jews of African or Asian descent and Jewish immigrants from Muslim countries—are often marginalized socially, economically and politically. This […]
Putting the Russian and Crimean Situation Into Context
From the beginning of the Ukrainian revolution until the Russian annexation of Crimea, US officials and politicians have pointed to Russia’s aggression and disregard for international law. While it is constructive to point toward injustice when it occurs, it should […]
Lebanon’s Syrian refugees: ‘An entire generation is growing up with PTSD’
BERUIT — Refugees are everywhere on the streets of downtown Beirut. Women and children in filthy clothes beg for money on nearly every street corner. Countless young boys tote shoeshine kits, persistently following foreigners and wealthy Lebanese who pass by. […]